February 27, 2013
This is an edited re-post from June 20, 2008
My Sunday “Lonely Guy” activity is to read the New York Times and watch C-Span 2 Book TV, muted. If I glance something interesting on the screen — Christopher Hitchens, say, ranting about why we should be in Iraq — I may bring up the sound. That seldom happens. Most Sundays, only the rustle of newsprint is heard in my living room. Sometimes, though, the thing on TV that catches my eye is the shape of a nose, or a hairstyle, or an odd mouth and I feel a powerful urge to draw it — and the rest of the head. So I open my sketchbook, select a soft pencil from the coffee mug on the table by my chair, and set out to prove once again that I’m not only the world’s worst caricaturist, but should also get a medal for being the slowest. Of course, the nice thing about sketching talking heads on TV is they hold still for long periods, which means I can take all the time I need to get it wrong.
I have no idea why I doodled all that stuff on the sides, or wrote “The Other End” at the bottom, but I do enjoy making those little “drop” shadows under the letters. The thing that drives me mad, though, is that I have no memory of who most of the people are. (Memo to self: Keep better sketchbook notes). All I know for sure is that these folks appeared on C-Span 2 sometime in December, 2006. Also, I’m pretty sure the guy on the top left is a well-known newsman, one of the Kalb brothers, but which one? And the blond woman near the bottom of the left column is an expert on world religions. Interesting face, and I loved the informed talk she gave (I have the sound up while I sketch). Of course, all this assumes that I managed a passing likeness of at least those two.
Copyright © 2013 Jim Sizemore.
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caricature, cartooning, doodles, illustration, images, journalism, war | Tagged: caricature, conversation, doodles, doodling, drawing, Kalb brothers, people, politics, sketching, television | 
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Posted by Jim
December 31, 2010
Talking Hands
By Mary Azrael
(Click images for larger views.)
The “Hip Shots” series of Doodlemeister.com photographs will feature images that were grabbed “on the fly” with little or no regard for framing and focus. The object of the exercise being to create dynamic pictures, not perfect ones. With this ” shoot-from-the-hip” method, the more frames exposed, the better the chances are that you’ll come up with something interesting—a related series that can be arranged as a post. If you’d like additional tips for using the technique, or to submit your own pictures, drop a question or note in the “Leave a Comment” section, below. Meanwhile, click on these images for a larger view, and click the “Hip Shots” tag above for more examples. For another post in the series, tune in next Friday.
Copyright © 2010 Mary Azrael.
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Posted by Jim
August 25, 2010
A Life Lesson ?
The other evening, as we passed a young couple strolling in a local park, my companion and I overheard the following bit of conversation, herewith reported more or less verbatim:
Waspish-American Male: I cannot believe that I lived a whole month with Kentucky people! (Pause.) Very different culture . . .
Asian-American Female: Kentucky people! You actually went to China with Kentucky people!?
Copyright © 2010 Jim Sizemore.
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Posted by Jim
November 26, 2009
The following bit of dialogue was part of a conversation (political debate?) I overheard recently at a local diner. The brief fragment that I caught, while standing and waiting for my lunch buddy to show up, involved the recent publication of a very popular book by an unsuccessful candidate for high office. My friend arrived and we were seated several booths away from the young couple in question, but as we ate I could still hear their voices, now coming through as only a soft rumble. From the tone I surmised that the Young Woman continued to dominate, as she had in the snippet that I had earlier overheard. Here it is:
Young Man: What I can’t understand is why the press gives that jerk so much attention.
Young Woman: Well, let’s say that Katie Couric and all those other news hounds had ignored her — how would you have known that she’s a jerk?
Copyright © 2009 Jim Sizemore.
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Posted by Jim
October 6, 2009
Telling a person that you pray for their
soul every day is a form of bragging.
The above thought occurred to me after a tense conversation with a beloved “fundamentalist” relative. The thorny subject of our chat was my non-belief.
Copyright © 2009 Jim Sizemore.
2 Comments | doodles, non-fiction, writing | Tagged: born again, bragging, conversation, doodle, fundamentalist, kinship, non-belief, non-fiction, pray, relative, religion, soul, superstition, writing | Permalink
Posted by Jim
June 23, 2009
“The particular charm of marriage is the duologue, the permanent conversation between two people who talk over everything and everyone.”
—Cyril Connolly, The Unquiet Grave (Perse)
Photo-Illustration: My paternal grandparents, Owen & Charlottie Sizemore.
Copyright © 2009 Jim Sizemore.
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Posted by Jim
June 8, 2009
I overheard the following snatch of conversation between a young man and woman, strangers to me, while standing in line behind them at a Towson, Maryland, delicatessen. Since I was too busy reading the menu to consider writing it down, this was transcribed from memory. (And anyway, I never carry a pen or pencil.)
SHE: You’re doing it again.
HE: What?
SHE: Smiling to yourself. What’s that you’re thinking?
HE: It just popped into my head, I guess because your sister’s going to be a June bride and my brother’s getting married in October. I was thinking how much I love weddings—especially wedding receptions and the dancing and all—and how much I hate the very idea of marriage itself.
SHE: Oh?
At that dramatic point in the dialogue the young folks (a couple?) gave their sandwich orders to the deli clerk and moved on, leaving me to wonder what happened next.
Copyright © 2009 Jim Sizemore.
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Posted by Jim
October 6, 2008
A Dialogue Doodle
Scene: The seafood counter of my local supermarket. I’ve just ordered a fresh trout for dinner and the clerk, a young man, is removing the head and tail.
Characters: Male Seafood Clerk; Female Produce Clerk. The Produce Clerk enters from stage left and speaks first.
Produce Clerk (to Seafood Clerk): Where’s Tishea at?
Seafood Clerk: Oh, she went and got another job—administrative assistant to some bigwig over at the YMCA.
Produce Clerk: Frosty! The girl can proper that.
Seafood Clerk: That’s right.
Produce Clerk: That Tishea—she can proper her act real fast.
The above text is a recreation of a snippet of conversation overheard by Your Faithful Blogger. What intrigued me about the exchange were two words I had not heard used in this way before. It took me a while to figure out that in this case “frosty” was meant as an intensifier, becoming “cool”-squared. And “proper,” an adjective, becomes a verb indicating Tishea’s ability to act out any role she’s given—and doing so in ways my dictionary defines as, “Displaying exaggerated propriety or gentility.” This small slice of grammatical time has been slightly edited and/or expanded, and rendered in script form for your reading pleasure.
Copyright © 2008 Jim Sizemore.
1 Comment | actors, doodles, fiction, non-fiction, theater, writing | Tagged: adjective, administrative assistant, bigwig, conversation, dialogue, dialogue doodles, doodler, doodles, doodling, employment, grammatical, job, labor, playwriting, produce, role, scene, seafood, text, theater, time, verb, work, writing | Permalink
Posted by Jim
September 22, 2008
A Dialogue Doodle
The scene: A park bench, late afternoon. A very young couple (she with a serious expression, he looking distressed) are deep in conversation and oblivious to a man (me) passing by.
He: What can I say? I don’t know how to respond when you—
She (interrupting): Look, rather than have you guessing about what I’m thinking, I’d rather be up front and honest and tell you straight out what I’m observing about your behavior.
He: What? What did I do that was so—
She (interrupting): You know what I’m talking about. You do it all the time. Constantly. Constantly.
He: Huh?
The above text is a recreation of a snippet of conversation overheard on the fly. I find it intriguing because it suggests what may have gone before and what may follow. This slice of time has been slightly edited and/or expanded and put in script form for (I hope) your reading pleasure. Copyright © 2008 Jim Sizemore.
3 Comments | doodles, fiction, non-fiction, theater, writing | Tagged: behavior, conversation, couples, dialogue, dialogue doodles, doodler, doodles, doodling, park, playwriting, relationships, scene, text, time, writing | Permalink
Posted by Jim
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